As is our yearly tradition - and I do love traditions - it is maple sugaring time in the northeast which means going to an All you can Eat Pancake Breakfast.
We try to visit a different farm each year - this year coming close to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
While sugaring used to be very labor intensive, having to tap trees, hang buckets and manually collect the sap daily, today’s large operations now do it with tubing and collections systems. The sap is then put in wood burning boilers to cook off the excess water until it becomes nothing but sweet, velvety syrup.
An interesting note - Before the days of boilers, Indians used to hollow out tree trunks and place the sap in the hollow. At night the water content of the sap would freeze and they would peel the layer of ice off. Done repeatedly until fully reduced to liquid gold.
Maple sugar farms open their sugar shacks for one or two weekends in March to give tours and serve their products.
This year’s choice provided some really great fiddle music.
There may be nothing better than being out in the woods on a cold Sunday morning, enter a steamy sugar shack, sit at a communal table to drink a cup of hot coffee and stuff yourself with steaming pancakes and sausage topped with fresh maple syrup straight out of the boilers.
And then going home with a collection of maple sugar products and recipes to try.
Unfortunately our warm winter has slowed the flow of sap and production will be low this year. In fact, they say climate change will eventually move maple sugaring further and further north, the impact already showing in just one generation. It makes me so sad to think that my grandchildren may not be able to enjoy this centuries old tradition.
Or enjoy maple syrup straight from the tree
This is something I never even knew existed, not having grown up here in the NE - I'm adding it to my list for next year! Sounds like a good winter break excursion. So much agreement about what we are doing to the planet; was just reading an article about fish migration and how we are seeing fish we've never seen before in NY, which seems all well and good, but isn't when you consider that eventually, there will be no fish left at the equator, or very few species who can handle those temps and those countries are heavily dependent upon the ocean. It's a lot to think about and consider.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lot of fun for kids - but it is usually only the last 2 weekends of March. You can google farms that also give tours. If you're making plans to come upstate, Lake Placid is also great for kids as you can visit the Olympics sites and do the bobsled run.
DeleteThe fish migrations are very disturbing. Well, it's ALL so disturbing and all happening at an exponential speed!
The closest event we have is a Maple Sugar Festival which will be this weekend. It isn't the same but it is something. Sadly, I will miss this year.
ReplyDeleteI have that the nature of things is changing for the worst. So sad.
Sorry you will miss the Maple Sugar Festival. I will eat some for you : )
DeleteWhat a fun tradition. This sounds so exotic and historic to me, like something out of an old book.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that the next generation gets a chance to do this. My hope lies in the fact that we have made some progress in the way we treat our planet. I believe that you posted a picture of the air pollution in NYC back in the 1970's and the comparison from today. We can do better. We have done better. We will do better.
The stooges who are in charge right now won't be there forever. We will take our country back and restore our priorities.
Hold the good thought, 8. And keep bugging your elected representatives.
xooxxoxo
I love the old rugged mountain traditions and people who have a deep respect for Mother Earth.
DeleteI do believe we need to get rid of this administration before it does too much damage. Some things, like species, are irreplaceable once they're gone.
Always holding the good thought . . .
What a fun tradition and let's hope it can continue. Now I have a hankering for some flapjacks... This has been a weird winter for sure. It was 59 the day before yesterday and 28 this morning... Not good.
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been a roller coaster here also. I made the mistake of uncovering my perennial garden when it was 70 degrees and then we had an historic blizzard. I'm afraid to even look at all the little shoots that had started.
DeleteThat sounds like so much fun! And now I want pancakes with maple syrup, too.
ReplyDeleteOr in my case - having loads of maple syrup with a little pancake : )
DeleteMmm. Maple sugar in any form is fine by me. I particularly love maple candy.
ReplyDeleteI hate what we're doing to our world, though.